Three people were killed as cyclone Fani made landfall in Puri on Odisha coast around 8 am on Friday.
The cyclone which was one of the strongest in the last 20 years, has triggered heavy rainfall and gusty winds with a speed of 175 kmph.
Several areas in Puri and other places were submerged as rains battered the entire coastal belt of Odisha.
Many trees, electric poles were uprooted and thatched houses destroyed at some places including the state capital Bhubaneswar.
All flights from Bhubaneswar have been cancelled from midnight, Kolkata airport will be shut between 3 pm today and till 8 am on Saturday.
Furthermore, close to 140 trains including 83 passenger trains have been cancelled so far.
Cyclone Fani which is now moving towards West Bengal also triggered heavy rains in parts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh.
At least one million people have been evacuated in the last 24 hours from vulnerable districts in Odisha ahead of Cyclone Fani's landfall in the state on Friday, officials said.
The highest number of people -- 3 lakh -- was evacuated from Ganjam district while 1.3 lakh people have been evacuated from Puri district, said an official from the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) office.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday took to Twitter to inform that she has cancelled all her election rallies for the next two days in the wake of 'impending' Cyclone Fani in her home state. (Read more)
Have cancelled my rallies for the next 48 hours because of what could be an impending disaster #CyclonicStormFANI We are monitoring the situation 24x7 and doing all it takes. I appeal to all people to cooperate. Be alert, take care and stay safe for the next two days
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 3, 2019
Odisha: Police personnel of Nayapalli police station clear roads in Bhubaneswar. Several trees have been uprooted in the heavy rain and strong winds which hit the region today. #CyclonicStormFANI pic.twitter.com/tGxBvzP36c
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
Cyclone Fani has moved away from Andhra Pradesh and so a de-warning has issued for the state, says IMD Delhi's Mrityunjay Mohapatra. Three districts in Andhra have been impacted by the extremely severe cyclonic storm.
Packing heavy rain and winds with speeds of up to 175 kmph, cyclonic storm 'Fani' slammed into the Odisha coast Friday morning, uprooting trees and sweeping away thatched huts, as large areas of the seaside pilgrim town of Puri were left submerged. The extremely severe cyclonic storm made landfall at around 8 a.m. in Puri but thanks to enough advance warning, about 11 lakh people had already been evacuated from vulnerable and low-lying areas of at least 11 coastal districts by Thursday. (Read full report)
Indian Navy's P-8I and Dornier are being scheduled to be launched in the afternoon for undertaking aerial survey to assess the extent of impact and devastation post FANI crossing the coast.
#Odisha: Several trees uprooted in #Bhubaneswar as strong winds hit the region under the influence of #CycloneFani. pic.twitter.com/JXtmoCw1Ad
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
Arrangements have been made to start free kitchens at the cyclone shelters. Around 4,000 such shelters, including 880 specially designed cyclone centres, are housing the evacuees. Over one lakh dry food packets have been kept ready for air dropping for which two choppers requisitioned, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) BP Sethi said.
#CycloneFani Over 11 lakh people evacuated in #Odisha, another 10 trains cancelled by East Coast railway today. (AIR)#OdishaPrepared4Fani
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) May 3, 2019
Odisha: Heavy rainfall and strong winds hit Ganjam as #FANI cyclone hits Puri coast with wind speed of above 175km/per hour. pic.twitter.com/30jdhND8L7
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
Indian Met department says the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani is likely to move North-Northeastwards, weaken gradually and emerge into Gangetic West Bengal as a severe cyclonic storm in next 6 hours and move to Bangladesh .
As #CycloneFANI makes its landfall on Puri coast, babies born at Bhadrak hospital, nearly 200 km away. The cyclone is now moving towards West Bengal over Bhadrak and Balasore coast. #FaniCyclone #Odisha #CyclonicStormFANI #OdishaPrepared4Fani @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/5PMF7T5LVQ
— Hemant Kumar Rout (@Hemant_TNIE) May 3, 2019
#CycloneFani MHA Helpline Number - 1938 pic.twitter.com/bxPAU1dIlu
— NDMA India (@ndmaindia) May 3, 2019
The Met department says that the eye of severe cyclonic storm Fani has completely moved into land by 10 AM and thus the cyclone has crossed the Odisha coast between 8-10 AM.
According to market sources, potato, which was being sold at Rs 12-a-kg few days back, is now charged Rs 22 to Rs 30 per kg while onion vanished from the retail shops in the periphery areas of the Capital. (READ MORE)
#CycloneFani live satellite image.#CycloneAlert #Cyclonefaniupdate #Cyclones #Weathertweet #Weatheralert #WeatherLive #satelliteimage #CycloneAlert #WeatherUpdate pic.twitter.com/IuHHr2d9RO
— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) May 3, 2019
⚡️ #CycloneFani makes landfall near Puri, winds speed now at about 175 km/h.#Odishahttps://t.co/OsgIZSnIvs
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) May 3, 2019
Current wind speed of cyclone as the landfall process is in progress is 175-185 kmph gusting to 195 kmph. Puri reported maxmimum sustained wind speed of 142 kmph gusting to 174 kmph, says IMD
Bhubaneswar- (0674-2303060, 2301525, 2301625)
Khurda Road (0674-2490010, 2492511, 2492611)
Sambalpur (0663- 2532230, 2533037, 2532302)
Visakhapatnam – (0891- 2746255, 1072)
Puri- 06752-225922
Bhadrak- 06784-230827
Cuttack- 0671-2201865
Berhampur- 0680-2229632
#WATCH #CycloneFani hits Puri in Odisha. pic.twitter.com/X0HlYrS0rf
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
ESCS FANI about 25 km SSWof Puri at 0830 IST. To cross Odisha coast between Gopalpur & Chandbali close to Puri during 0800-1100 IST. Landfall started at 0800 hrs IST. Part of eye lies over land at 0830. Entire process of eye entering into land will be completed in next 2 hrs. pic.twitter.com/2RrDpvyOuj
— India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) May 3, 2019
East Coast Railway: It has further been decided to cancel 10 more trains - 7 trains on 3rd May, one train on 4th May, one train on 6th May & one train on 7th May. Railways had earlier cancelled 147 trains from 1st to 3rd May. #CyclonicStormFANI pic.twitter.com/uuTAseYHLr
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
Great danger signal no. 10 hoisted at Kalingapatnam, Bheemunipatnam ports. Great danger signal no. 8 hoisted at Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram ports. (ANI)
Odisha: People take refuge in a shelter in Paradip of Jagatsinghpur. Over 1 million people have been evacuated from vulnerable districts in last 24 hrs & about 5000 kitchens are operating to serve people in shelters. #CycloneFani is expected to make a landfall in Puri dist today. pic.twitter.com/Hp3oXhkPSB
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
The impact of landfall process has started. Fani will make a landfall between 8-11 am, says HR Biswas, Director, Met Dept, Bhubaneswar:
Tropical cyclone Fani will not have a major impact on Sri Lanka in the coming days, Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said here on Friday.
The powerful cyclone slammed into India's eastern coastline on Friday, bringing torrential rain and winds of up to 200 km/h. It is one of the most severe storms to hit the region in recent years.
Assistant Director of DMC Pradeep Kodippili said that cyclone Fani was expected to increase wind speeds up to 200 km per hour and although there was no major threat to Sri Lanka, officials were deployed in several districts in case of an emergency, reported IANS.
Cyclone Fani will alter the weather conditions in Nepal and bring heavy rainfall and snowfall in the Himalayas, meteorologists warned on Friday. [READ FULL STORY]
Directed Secreatry @MoCA to continuously monitor the situation. DGCA will be issuing revised advisories to Airlines as and when necessary. Taking all possible steps for passenger safety and to minimise their inconvenience. #CycloneFaniUpdates #CycloneFani
— Chowkidar Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) May 3, 2019
The eye of cyclonic storm 'Fani' has "completely moved into land" by 10 am Friday weakening its fury, but heavy rainfall is still predicted in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and parts of the northeastern states, the Home Ministry. [READ FULL REPORT]
Here's a picture of #CycloneFani's effects on a petroleum bunk in #Odisha.
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) May 3, 2019
LIVE: https://t.co/qTG0WyM2Qj pic.twitter.com/vIUdfgw3Tf
@IndiaCoastGuard Ship at Sea off #Odisha Coast embarks #Relief material and food packets/drinking water onboard #CoastGuard #Helicopter to be ferried to #Gopalpur for #SevereCycloneFani affected people @DefenceMinIndia @SpokespersonMoD @PMOIndia @PIB_India pic.twitter.com/2FI1YDBImO
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) May 3, 2019
Heavy rainfall lashed Kolkata and Gangetic West Bengal on Friday. The extremely severe cyclonic storm made landfall alittle after 10 a.m. It was located over 400 km southwest of Kolkata and over 350 km, southwest of the East Midnapore district sea resort Digha. [READ FULL REPORT]
Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan, PM Narendra Modi on Friday said that over Rs 1000 crore had been released in advance for states affected by Cyclone Fani. A detailed review meeting was held and he had been given the latest updates on Cyclone Fani, Modi said as the extremely severe cyclonic storm hit Odisha on Friday morning. [READ FULL REPORT HERE]
A crane in Z1 falling on a near by building in Bhubaneswar.#CycloneFani pic.twitter.com/FeaRYJnEmH
— Satyopriyo Dash (@satyopriyodash) May 3, 2019
Three Indian navy's warships -- Sahyadri, Ranvir and Kadmatt -- with relief material and medical teams are tracking extremely severe cyclone Fani and will be the first responder and start rescue work as soon the storm hits the coast in Odisha. [READ FULL REPORT]
#CycloneFani shatters Hall of Residence gate of IIT-Bhubaneswar. (Video Courtesy: @ultimateaps) #Odisha #CycloneFaniUpdates #OdishaPrepared4Fani #Fani #CyclonicStormFANI @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/3QweY2Axsn
— Hemant Kumar Rout (@Hemant_TNIE) May 3, 2019
A teenager was killed when a tree came crashing down on him at a place within Sakhigopal police station area limits in Puri district. [READ FULL REPORT]
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said the state was prepared to combat the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani that is likely to affect six southern districts, while urging people to stay alert and not to panic. [READ FULL REPORT]
Bhubaneswar: A 32-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl in Railway Hospital today at 11:03 AM. Baby has been named after the cyclonic storm, Fani. The woman is a railway employee, working as a helper at Coach Repair Workshop, Mancheswar. Both the mother&child are fine. #Odisha pic.twitter.com/xHGTkFPlAe
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
The Centre on Friday revised the closure time for the Kolkata airport due to extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani, which made landfall earlier in the day in neighbouring Odisha. [READ FULL REPORT]
As a precaution against cyclone 'Fani', the Indian Railway has cancelled 223 trains in the Bhadrak-Vizianagaram section, along the coastal lines of Odisha on the Kolkata-Chennai route till May 4. [READ FULL REPORT]
People in Srikakulam district and other two north coastal districts - Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram - breathed a sigh of relief, with extreme severe cyclonic storm Fani sparing them and moving towards Odisha southern coast. [READ FULL REPORT]
According to AFP, two persons have died in Odisha as cyclone Fani unleashes its fury. “I can confirm two deaths for now. One old man in one of the shelters died because of (a) heart attack. Another person went out in the storm despite our warnings and died because a tree fell on him,” Odisha state special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi told AFP.
Extensive damage to structure of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar as #CycloneFani crosses the Odisha capital. All patients, staff & students are safe. Water tanks blown off, light poles down & ACs damaged. #Odisha #CyclonicStormFANI #CycloneFaniUpdates #OdishaPrepared4Fani @NewIndianXpress
— Hemant Kumar Rout (@Hemant_TNIE) May 3, 2019
Cyclone Fani Ground Reports : Orissa, Balasore.#TEAMNDRFINDIA #StaySafe #stayalert #stayprepared@satyaprad1 @ndmaindia @PIBHomeAffairs pic.twitter.com/p0ptql43Jc
— NDRF (@NDRFHQ) May 3, 2019
Extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani which battered the coasts of Odisha and made landfall near Puri has weakened to a very severe cyclonic storm at 11.30 AM. It is expected to move North-Northeast and weaken into a severe cyclonic storm.
